Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Fadel and grab bag post

"Former S-T reporter honored for Iraq coverage" (Sarah Bahari, Fort Worth Star-Telegram):In the chaos of Baghdad, reporter Leila Fadel found solace in Hai al Salam, a peaceful neighborhood where Sunnis and Shiites lived as neighbors and friends. That was in 2005.Two years later, the neighborhood had deteriorated. Mothers were brutally murdered in front of children, and men were buried alive. People were dragged from their homes and never seen again.Fadel wanted to know why.Her reporting eventually led her to Abu Rusil, a Mahdi Army commander and Shiite, a proud and cold killer whose brother was slain by Sunnis. After interviewing Rusil and dozens of residents from that once-peaceful neighborhood, Fadel crafted a chilling story about Rusil's brutal exploits and the people whose lives he ruined.For her work on that story and others, Fadel -- a former Star-Telegram reporter and now Baghdad bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, the Star-Telegram's parent company -- has been awarded the prestigious George Polk Award for foreign reporting.

I cannot believe that Amy Goodman, who likes to pretend she has some small interest in the Iraq War, couldn't even name Fadel today. Bahari's written a very strong feature article and I urge you to read it in full and to take a moment to realize how much Leila Fadel risks each day to report from Iraq.

New topics . . .

As a general rule, C.I. stays out of commenting on foreign elections. Australian community members had to really insist for the match up there to be covered. The reason is, if you're in a country, you know it better. If you're outside of a country, you don't know it as well.

This is demonstrated when Michael Fellman pens "It's President Obama" for Canada's The Tyee: "Will Obama pull out of Iraq? Almost certainly, particularly if he initiates the exit immediately. But he has left himself a verbal out just in case the war deepens before rather than after the Americans depart." Fellman should probably try writing about Canadian races. He knows nothing about American ones. Barack Obama refused to pledge that, if elected, the Iraq War would be over by 2013. That's not "almost certainly." In addition, he's only speaking of 'combat troops' and allowing for 'terrorist' troops to stay to combat 'terrorists' as well as 'trainers' -- to do further counter-insurgency crimes -- and he has stated that when he does start withdrawing combat troops, he is fine with sending them back in. Michel Fellman's biggest mistake may not have been that he didn't know his facts, it may have been the presumption that someone outside the US has an opinion worth hearing on US elections. Again, reading that nonsense really drove home why C.I. did not comment on the election Gordon Brown won and why C.I. avoided Kevin Rudd's election until Australian community members begged for coverage.

Here's something Canadian writers pretending to be opposed to the illegal war might want to tackle: How Canada helps prolong the illegal war with their actions. But that wouldn't be as easy as posing like you're opposed to the Iraq War, would it? Pointing the finger at your own government would take a little more courage and work than telling half-backed fairy tales.

"Missing marine makes contact in Indiana: Father reports that Eric Hall called a friend in Jeffersonville" (David Mann, The News and Tribune):Missing ex-marine Eric Hall made contact with a Jeffersonville friend via phone early Wednesday morning, according to a family member.Eric Hall, a Clark County native and Iraq war veteran who's believed to be suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, disappeared in Charlotte County, Fla., earlier this month. He was staying with family there and was said to be suffering from flashbacks and hallucinations at the time of his disappearance.A friend who lives in Jeffersonville received a phone call from Eric Hall about 12:30a.m. Wednesday morning, said Kevin Hall, the ex-marine’s father. He did not want to elaborate much on what was said during the call but noted that the conversation was short and that his son seems to still be disoriented.The call was made from a cell phone and authorities have so far been unable to trace the number. They're now trying to locate the cellular tower from which the call was made, Kevin Hall said. It's believed to be in Florida.

That is what is known as a happy story. I'm not mocking it. I'm saying that what Eric Hall is going through is something that a large number of veterans are going through and the numbers are only going to increase. In the best case scenario, those who have to leave, those who have to drop out, will not be making contact the way Hall has. That's why it's a happy story and it's going to be a VERY RARE story if we don't start demanding that the government provide the necessary health care resources to returning veterans.

I do sessions with veterans and I'm very fortunate to be able to, it's not the other way around. But by 2004, it was becoming very obvious that there were serious problems with the funding, with the system and with what was being 'provided.' It was obvious to all of us in the health care industry. It was briefly an issue in the 2004 campaigns when John Kerry called Bully Boy out on the lack of funding. FactCheck.org rushed in to LIE and say Kerry was wrong and Bully Boy was right. They have blood on their hands now and forever. Had they not rushed in with their uninformed lie, the American people might have been aware of the crisis and demanded action. Now it's 2008 and another presidential election is just around the corner. Do you really think the Walter Reed Army Medical Center scandals changed anything? I see that it raised awareness. I'm not attempting to insult either Dana Priest or Anne Hull, by the way. They did excellent work. But what followed, from the government, were a lot of pretty words and nothing to back them up. The situtation has not improved.

"Fellow agents testify in Army investigator's theft trial" (R. Scott Rappold, The Colorado Springs Gazette):Adil Jaber Mansour al-Nashy was making a tidy profit off the U.S. occupation of Iraq.An Iraqi citizen, former military interpreter and shop owner at Camp Victory in Baghdad, he did a lucrative business selling videos and electronics to the troops. Suspected of selling drugs to Americans and secrets to insurgents, he had $600,000 in dollars, euros and Iraqi dinars when U.S. soldiers raided his shop and home May 5, 2005.The suspicions turned out to be unfounded, but when $50,000 of the seized cash disappeared, the Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CID) began to look at one of their own as the possible thief.Chief Warrant Officer Jonathan T. Renaud, of the 48th Military Police Detachment at Fort Carson, is on trial on charges of dereliction of duty, theft and fraternizing with two female enlisted personnel. His court-martial resumed Wednesday at the post, after several weeks delay.

This is just a grab-bag post tonight, in case you haven't caught on yet. I've grabbed several topics. I grabbed the above due to the graft. Big Oil and Big Business is raking it in on this illegal war but they are far from the only ones. In the last 24 hours, the US military has announced 4 deaths (C.I. covers it in the snapshot below) and ask yourself where the coverage Iraq is? As C.I. points out, don't point the finger at the MSM. If it weren't for them, there would be no coverage on Iraq. Little Media continues to demonstrate that they beg for money . . . to waste. They waste it, and our time very well, day after day. TomDispatch needs to get honest about the realities of the media. The biggest problem remains Little Media.

"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):Wednesday, February 20, 2008. Chaos and violence continue, Little Media wallows in being useless, the US military announces deaths, round-ups announced in Baghdad and more.

In the '60s and '70s, Canada was a refuge for war resisters and conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War. Iraq war resistors want the same reception and protested at Canadian consulates from coast to coast as part of Courage To Resist's "Dear Canada: Let Them Stay" campaign."We had actions in eight cities Jan. 25, at five Canadian consulates around the county on behalf of war resisters in Canada," Max Diorio of Courage to Resist told The Final Call."Thousands of soldiers are AWOL. The military doesn't know how many or where they are. Canada was a safe haven, but the climate now has Canada wanting to be on the good side of the United States."Hundreds of U.S. military personnel are in Canada because of decisions not to participate in U.S. wars and the occupation in the Middle East. There is no legal or political provision in effect in Canada that affords U.S. war resisters the right to stay in the country.Deportation looms as a real threat for many women and men seeking refuge from prosecution south of the border, even as widespread support for the rights of resisters to stay grows among Canadians.

With Canada's Parliament remaining the best hope for safe harbor war resisters have, you can make your voice heard by the Canadian parliament which has the ability to pass legislation to grant war resisters the right to remain in Canada. Three e-mails addresses to focus on are: Prime Minister Stephen Harper (pm@pm.gc.ca -- that's pm at gc.ca) who is with the Conservative party and these two Liberals, Stephane Dion (Dion.S@parl.gc.ca -- that's Dion.S at parl.gc.ca) who is the leader of the Liberal Party and Maurizio Bevilacqua (Bevilacqua.M@parl.gc.ca -- that's Bevilacqua.M at parl.gc.ca) who is the Liberal Party's Critic for Citizenship and Immigration. A few more can be found here at War Resisters Support Campaign. For those in the US, Courage to Resist has an online form that's very easy to use.

Meanwhile IVAW is organizing a March 2008 DC action:In 1971, over one hundred members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War gathered in Detroit to share their stories with America. Atrocities like the My Lai massacre had ignited popular opposition to the war, but political and military leaders insisted that such crimes were isolated exceptions. The members of VVAW knew differently.Over three days in January, these soldiers testified on the systematic brutality they had seen visited upon the people of Vietnam. They called it the Winter Soldier investigation, after Thomas Paine's famous admonishing of the "summer soldier" who shirks his duty during difficult times. In a time of war and lies, the veterans who gathered in Detroit knew it was their duty to tell the truth.Over thirty years later, we find ourselves faced with a new war. But the lies are the same. Once again, American troops are sinking into increasingly bloody occupations. Once again, war crimes in places like Haditha, Fallujah, and Abu Ghraib have turned the public against the war. Once again, politicians and generals are blaming "a few bad apples" instead of examining the military policies that have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan.Once again, our country needs Winter Soldiers.In March of 2008, Iraq Veterans Against the War will gather in our nation's capital to break the silence and hold our leaders accountable for these wars. We hope you'll join us, because yours is a story that every American needs to hear.Click here to sign a statement of support for Winter Soldier: Iraq & AfghanistanMarch 13th through 16th are the dates for the Winter Soldier Iraq & Afghanistan Investigation. Dee Knight (Workers World) notes, "IVAW wants as many people as possible to attend the event. It is planning to provide live broadcasting of the sessions for those who cannot hear the testimony firsthand. 'We have been inspired by the tremendous support the movement has shown us,' IVAW says. 'We believe the success of Winter Soldier will ultimately depend on the support of our allies and the hard work of our members'." As part of their fundraising efforts for the event, they are holding houseparties and a recent one in Boston featured both IVAW's Liam Madden and the incomprable Howard Zinn as speakers. IVAW's co-chair Adam Kokesh will, of course, be participating and he explains why at his site, "But out of a strong sense of duty, some of us are trying to put our experiences to use for a good cause. Some of us couldn't live with ourselves if weren't doing everything we could to bring our brothers and sisters home as soon as possible. The environment may be unking, but that is why I will be testifying to shooting at civilians as a result of changing Rules of Engagement, abuse of detainees, and desecration of Iraqi bodies. It won't be easy but it must be done. Some of the stories are things that are difficult to admit that I was a part of, but if one more veteran realizes that they are not alone because of my testimony it will be worth it."

Staying with reality, Iraq is off the media radar and FOOLS and LIARS don't get it back on the radar. Debate whether Tom Engelhartdt is a a FOOL, a LIAR or a little bit of both when reading his latest pathetic piece at Common Dreams. Bully Boy says there's no problem -- says Tom -- and the media "miraculously" vanished Iraq. "The mainstream media," he tells us. Fool or liar or just a bit of both. Little media didn't stand up during the Myth of the Great Return. Amy Goodman devoted one full segment to Iraq last month when? January 25th. She waited until January 25th. [The 'we only have one minute!' garbage doesn't count.] Engelhartdt needs to stop peddling those tired lies. It may keep the checks coming in from The Nation but it's not reality. Nor is this claim that "Juan Cole's Informed Comment website" is "perhaps the best daily round-up of Iraqi mayhem and disaster on the Web". Really? Well sure he was for the illegal occupation after he was against it (as Steve Rendall pointed out to his face on CounterSpin) but, hey, if he's providing a "daily round-up of Iraqi mayhem" -- best or otherwise -- we should certainly make a point to check in.. Wednesday's sole entry (thus far) -- John McCain, Bambi and Pakistan. Monday's entry -- he did only one -- on Afghanistan. Tuesday's entry -- he did only one -- on Pakistan. Not a "daily round-up" but it's a nice way for someone to kiss ass with a shout-out, isn't it? Stick to McClatchy Newspapers, Reuters and ICCC, they provide daily information. Here's the reality Tom Engelhartdt isn't telling you because he's not willing to or he's too stupid to: Iraq's off the radar because we tolerate it being off the radar.

Because we renew our subscriptions to the garbage that is The Nation or buy it in stores, because Amy Goodman's begging on air for Pacific (for herself really) and we toss out a few bucks to shut the beggar up. There is an illegal war going on that hits the fifth year mark next month. There is nothing in independent media -- despite all the money we've forked over to them -- that reflects this reality. Nothing. And as long as we continue to accept that, as long as we're thrilled to death that Katrina vanden Heuvel can provide John Nichols, the Aris (Mebler and Berman) and assorted others covering the Democratic presidential primaries each damn day while providing NOTHING on the Iraq War, the illegal war is going to go on. Engelhartdt may be too stupid to tell you that or he may just enjoy being on the dime of The Nation. But that's reality and anyone telling you otherwise is a LIAR.

Not misinformed, not disinformed, not misguided -- just a LIAR. That's reality. And lying to people is DISGUSTING. Want Iraq covered? Demand it. Refuse to support media that doesn't cover it. And let's get one damn thing real clear, it's not, despite Engelhardt's claim, the "MSM" that's dropped Iraq. If the New York Times doesn't file a story for Iraq that's the headline of a morning entry here. I know how often that's the case and how often it isn't. (And not hear to spoonfeed lazy minds like Engelhardt). The New York Times isn't dropping Iraq -- they may resell the illegal war most days, but they do cover it. It's Little Media that's dropped Iraq. And no one needs a lecture from Tom Englehardt to begin with but we certainly don't need him on his high horse when he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. If you're talking corruption in Iraq, to provide one example, you're largely talking James Glanz of the New York Times. Not that Glanz is corrupt but you are talking his beat. He's covered it. He's defined it. When few have given a damn and the occassional moments when they have, he has covered that beat since the illegal war began. I'll slam the New York Times every day of the week. I'll slam Glanz if the article offends. But I don't pretend for a minute that Little Media 'competes' with the Times or other MSM outlets. Little Media doesn't compete because Little Media (broadcast and print) doesn't give a damn. Engelhardt's offering up the kind of crap we got in 2004 and 2005 when it was time to open the checkbooks: "Look what we do! No one else brings you the truth! Judith Miller did not work for us!" Independent media hasn't done a thing worthy of praise on Iraq -- or Iraq related topics -- in years. Anyone telling you otherwise is a fool or a liar. And you should be sick of it.

Sick Of It Day is an action Veterans for Peace started on the 14th of this month and VFP's Mike Ferner offers, "I've seen the pain on the faces of the people of Iraq and the soldiers who come back from war. It's something I can't get out of my mind and there are days when it really does make me sick" to explain the need for the action asking people to call in sick March 19th and then selecting "from a wide variety of other things to do that day -- from contacting Congress and going back to bed, to more ambitious ideas like helping quarantine military shipments in U.S. ports. Campaigners are invited to come up with their own 'Sick Of It Day' activity and post it to the site." Ferner (writing at Online Journal) speaks with IVAW co-chair Adam Kokesh ("campaign originator") who explains, "I'm sick of seeing America in denial about how much we have been lied to."

To return to the nonsense offered about the MSM, it was Sewell Chan (New York Times) who reported on a Friday NYC action where "20 antiwar activists gathered outside an Army recruiting office in East Harlem" -- it was not Democracy Now!, it was not The Nation, it was not Free Speech Radio News. The War Stops Here is a new website created to be "an online hub and journal of DIRECT ACTION." The website features text and videos. The creator of the site explained at Infoshop: "This is a project that I've long been thinking about, and unfortunately, nobody else has stepped up to help me out with it. So, here goes nothing. The basic premise is this: we're finally at a stage in the antiwar movement where there is something to report in terms of creative, militant direct actions against the occupation of Iraq happening right here in the US. It's happening on campuses, at ports, in the Capitol, in small towns and in big cities. Therefore, there ought to be a regularly-updated hub for those of us who take this work seriously, want to learn what other people are doing, and to let new people know that there are ways to tangibly grind this war to a halt." The creator's a member of today's Students for a Democratic Society and SDS' Kati Ketz is interviewed by Ron Jacobs (Dissident Voice) addressing what's coming up next month with Ketz explaining, "SDS is again putting out a call for students to take action, this time a week of action between March 17th-21st in order to protest five years of war in Iraq. We are focusing on March 20th as a student and youth specific day of action, where schools will be having walk-outs or rallies and protests on their campuses and in their cities." Ketz explains how her UNC-Asheville chapter of SDS is working with the local chapter of IVAW, "It seemed natural to our SDS group that when the IVAW-Asheville group started up in November of 2007 that we invite some of their members to speak on our campus. From that, a couple of members of IVAW-Asheville started coming to SDS meetings and getting involved in our actions on campus, which led to the counter-recruitment action we did recently. During this counter-recruitment action, we staged a mock Iraq raid based on what one member of IVAW-Asheville witnessed firsthand, with a family of Iraqi people being zip-tied and asked for information that they did not have before being carried away." More information is available at this page of the SDS website.

There are people seriously committed to ending the illegal war. Chances are you won't ever find them in what passes for 'independent' media today. Which is why we didn't hear the latest nonsense in Baghdad being called out. Again, the MSM is reporting. Where's Little Media? The damage they create with their silence is appalling. The new push is for round-ups in Baghdad. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reports it as if that's a good thing -- having the "homeless and mentally ill residents" rounded up and it's for their protection, you understand, because they have been used as bombers ("knowingly or unknowingly") so this is the way to address that according to the Interior Ministry's Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf who explains to CNN that "[p]olice will hand beggars, vagrants and the mentally handicapped over to governmental institutions that can provide them with shelter and care". The thugs of the Interior Ministry (who control the police or did we all miss that in the James Baker Circle Jerk report?) are going to determine who is sane and who isn't? Based on what training? They're going to determine -- in a country with runaway inflation and unemployment -- who is a 'vagrant' or 'beggar'? And they're never going to base those decisions on anything but the facts, right? They won't use that power to round-up against political enemies or dissidents? Keep dreaming.

The February 1st Baghdad bombings were said to have involved two women as 'suicide bombers' who were mentally disabled or one had Down Syndrome or blah, blah, blah -- who can remember all the spin the US military was offering day after day? In fact, they're still at it. The New York Times' Richard A. Oppel Jr. with AP (at International Herald-Tribune) reports that the US held a press briefing today in Baghdad to say they have files! medical records! and the women were ill! they had "depression and schizophrenia"! US military flack Gregory Smith explains that photos of the two women's severed heads were then photographed and -- apparently despite the heads being blown off the bodies -- were intact enough for the women to be matched up with "their psychiatric files -- not any medical files". That's such a sweet story and maybe there's a bit of truth somewhere deep.records.

There's no proof, just some yacking coming from a flack for the US military. Earlier today Amit R. Paley (Washington Post) reported on the same topic qutoing Khalaf stating beggars under 18 would be confined "to shelters" while those over 18 "would be charged with crimes" and those 'judged' mentally disabled by the 'doctors' working the Iraqi police beat on foot patrol would end up confined to hospitals because "These people with mental defects can cause a lot of damage if they are left on the streets . . . Their proper place is in the hospitals." There's no cultural excuse for what he just stated. "Proper place" and "defects" are offensive in any culture but that's what happens when educated Iraqis flee the country because thugs are put in charge.Repeating, the thugs of the Interior Ministry just got a pass on rounding up anyone they want to in a country where unemployment is the norm and where the mental health facilities are struggling at best. And what type of a country has a law on the books that bars the mentally disabled from being seen in public? This really is a disgrace and it's something that will be used to 'eliminate' people that are not in favor with the Interior Ministry. Again, there's still no proof that the mentally disabled have been used in bombings, even after the US raided a psychiatric hospital last week (CNN says they raided two). Steve Lannen and Hussein Khadim (McClatchy Newspapers) actually report on the Al Rashad hospital -- the one raided two Sundays ago with the director, Dr. Sahi Aboub, being arrested by the US military. The reporters find that the US military's claim that Dr. Aboub has been "selecting possible suicide bombers since Jan. 1" is ridiculous since (a) his first day at the hospital was January 13th and "he had no say in when patients would check in or out of the hospital." The hospital staff also notes that it's tied to Moqtada al-Sadr -- that would be the same al-Sadr's who has endorsed a six-month truce/cease-fire since August. It doesn't add up and it never will.

Lannen and Khadim explain that there are only two psychiatric hospitals in Iraq currently -- Ibn Rushad is the other. So exactly where those pronounced 'disabled' by the Interior Ministry are supposed to go is up in the air. As for those carted off to jail, Alissa J. Rubin (New York Times) reports on the realities of Iraqi 'justice' today, "The absence of the witnesses was the latest in a series of events that appear aimed at derailing the case, in which the officials are charged with using the resources of the Health Ministry to carry out a campaign of sectarian kidnappings and killings. Witnesses have been intimidated; their families have been threatened; and information emerged this week suggesting that the trial's outcome was fixed. One of the judges scheduled to hear the case had reportedly already agreed to find the men not guilty, according to officials close to the court."Not disturbed yet? Those are the benefits given to Shi'ite officials and Rubin explains who the two are: "The defendants, former Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili and Brig. Gen. Hameed al-Shammari, who led the ministry's security service, are charged with running militias that killed and kidnapped hundreds of Sunnis in hospitals run by the Health Ministry and other facilities in 2005 and 2006." These round-ups should set off alarms. Leila Fadel (McClatchy Newspapers) reports, "Today at the intersections of central Baghdad where forlorn women and young children typically pawn candy, gum, tissues or balloons were empty. The spokesman at the Ministry of Interior took no one off the streets. They all stayed home today." We'll come back to Fadel at the end.

Turning to some of today's reported violence . . .

Bombings?

Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) reports a Baghdad roadside bombing left two people wounded, another Baghdad roadside bombing targeted an official -- "the deputy minister of science and technology, Sameer Salim Al-Attar" -- who was wounded as were "two of his guards," a Baghdad car bombing claimed 1 life and left two people wounded, a Kirkuk roadside bombing left five police officers wounded and a Diyala Province bombing in which a bomber killed himself and 7 other people were at a bakery (with another seventeen wounded). Reuters notes a Tal Afar car bombing in which the driver died as well as two civilians -- "a woman and a 6-year-old girl" -- while eight more people were injured while a roadside bombing outside Tikrits left four people injured.

Today, the US military announced: "Three Multi-National Division -- Baghdad Soldiers were killed at approximately 10:30 p.m. Feb. 19 when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device in northwestern Baghdad." And they announced: "A Multi-National Division - North Soldier was killed as a result of injuries sustained from a rocket propelled grenade attack while conducting patrols in Mosul Feb. 20. Three soldiers were also wounded and transported to a Coalition medical facility for treatment." 3967 is the current total for US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war. 23 is the current total for the month -- on the 20th day of the month.

Yesterday, IRIN noted the continued plight of the Palestinian refugees "trapped in three makeshift camps along the Iraqi-Syrian border". The Palestinian population of Iraq before the illegal war broke out was not considered "citizens" of Iraq. They were included in the census, they were legally in the country and had some rights (not universal rights) recognized but they were not considered citizens. This creates a huge problem when attempting to leave Iraq since many countries demand passports -- more so since the large migration of refugees out of Iraq. But prior to that large migration, Palestinians were already leaving Iraq because the illegal war meant that the few rights they had were now shredded. In May of 2003, the BBC was reporting on the United Nations explaining what was happening, how they faced the threat of eviction (with 1,000 already being kicked out of Baghdad). The crisis was expected. Those trapped between the borders of Iraq and Syria have been trapped for nearly two years. Nothing is being done.

Turning to US political news. Margaret Kimberly (Freedom Rider -- this is Kimberley's own website, not her latest column) believes Hillary Clinton's campaign for the presidential nomination is now over: "She cannot over come the barrage of negative press that has hit her. The press are in the tank for Obama, and that is obviously because he is the corporate media favorite. . . . He endorsed Joe Lieberman, his Senate mentor, he waffled on Iraq, often contradicting his own statements about being anti-war. He said he would bomb Iran. He said that Israel can keep killing people whenever and wherever it chooses. Most importantly he told them that he will keep black people quiet. Like the right wing he thinks that the 60s and 70s were 'excessive.' He says 'there is no black America' and in any case we are '90% of the way towards equality'." [For more on Hillary, Elizabeth L. Keathley examines cultural and historical bias working against the Clinton campaign at Women's eNews.] Staying with that themes Obama sells, Glen Ford (Black Agenda Report) observes, "Obama is a world-class wooer. His white male wooing is made much easier by the fact that those who consider themselves his 'sisters' and 'brothers' demand nothing whatsoever from him. Just come home when you get ready, brother. Obama is free to concentrate his attentions on the hard-to-get demographics, especially white men with their peculiar notions of 'change.' No need for Obama to promise the hood a damn thing, except that he'll cut a dashing figure in the Oval Office and make the homefolks proud that he's there, symbolically representing them. Republicans and GOP-leaning 'independents' (meaning, deep-dyed whites) are crossing over in heards to vote for Obama. They've got the message: happy days are here again, when the darkies smiled and were careful not to hurt our feelings by telling the truth. That's the kind of 'change' we've always 'hoped' for, by golly! The white liberal/left, ineffectual and geographically scattered, are drawn irresistibly to the Black man who regales them with sweet nothings -- literally, nothing in the way of the concrete policies for peace and social justice they claim to champion. His presence in their midst is enough. Besides, Obama is someone who is 'capable of forging a progressive majority,' they say. That's a strange concept, since Obama doesn't act like a progressive, or claim to be one." Doesn't act like one? Fidel Castro announced he was stepping down as president of Cuba. KUNA reports on Obama's statements yesterday including that Castro's stepping down ending "a dark era." He wasn't the only Obama embarrassing himself yesterday. As Kat notes, Michelle Obama declared on Monday, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback." Cindy McCain, spouse of Senator McCain, later stated publicly, "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you. If you heard those words earlier -- I am very proud of my country." If only that was the least of Bambi's troubles. Jake Tapper (ABC News) reports on Obama and the federally indicted Antoin "Tony" Rezko: "Turns out before Obama bought the mansion (Rezko helped him by buying half the land), Obama took Rezko 'on a tour of the premises to make sure it was a good deal'." Tapper's quote comes from David Jackson and Bob Secter (Chicago Tribune) who note, "Weeks after saying he'd answered all questions about his controversial dealings with the now-indicted Rezko, Obama released new details about their purchase of adjacent lots from the same seller on the same day. But the disclosures by Obama's presidential campaign left unanswered questions and raised new ones." Today, Rhonda Schwartz and Justin Rood (ABC News) report, "Watchdog groups are questioning why it took Sen. Barack Obama more than a year to disclose additional details of his dealings with indicted fundraiser Antoin 'Tony' Rezko" and quote Better Government Association's Jay Stewart ("when you're laying out that kind of rhetoric . . . it makes sense for people to say, 'Let's look at what you've done. Let's see if your rhetoric matches wtih reality." and Illinois Campaign for Political Reform's Cindy Canary ("This is something that Sen. Obama should have put foward from the get-go."). Well he should have given away the Rezko money from the get-go but, as Chris Fusco and Tim Novack (Chicago Sun-Times) reported at the end of last month, "The latest dump of Rezko-related cash by the Democratic presidential contended is $72,650, bringing the total Obama is giving away to $157,835."

In her speech last night, Hillary Clinton noted, "I have served on the Armed Services Committee. I've been to more than 80 countries, worked with world leaders, stood up to the Chinese government to declare that women's rights are human rights. And I am ready to end this war in Iraq and this era of cowboy diplomacy. I will restore our leadership and moral authority in the world without delays, without on-the-job training, from day one. One of us has a plan to provide health care for every single American, no one left out. And I believe -- I believe health care is a right, not a privilege. And I will not rest until every American is covered. That is my solemn promise to you." If you didn't catch that from 'independent' media today, it's because you have Smut Merchants and a lot of Pigs.

Leila Fadel, McClatchy's Baghdad bureau chief, won the George R. Polk Award for outstanding foreign reporting and The Charlotte Observer won the Polk Award for outstanding economic reporting, Long Island University announced Tuesday.Fadel, 26, was cited for her "vivid depictions" of the military and political struggle in Iraq. "Her work provided a comprehensive array of disturbing, first-hand accounts of violence and conflict by juxtaposing the agonizing plight of families in ethnically torn neighborhoods with the braggadocio of a vengeful insurgent proud of his murderous exploits, and the carnage and sorrow among victims of Iraq's most deadly car bombing in a remote region of the country where few reporters ventured," the jurors said.:From Robert D. McFadden (New York Times), "Leila Fadel, the Baghdad bureau chief for McClatchy, won the foreign reporting Polk for wide-ranging articles from Iraq on families in ethnically torn neighborhoods, on killers and victims and on an endlessly changing military and political struggle." Editor & Publisher has reposted a 2007 article on her. Sarah Bahari (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) reviews Fadel's past reporting and notes, "From her work on that story and others, Fadel -- a former Star-Telgram reporter and now Baghdad bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, the Star-Telegram's parent company -- has been awarded the prestigious George Polk Award for foreign reporting." And that foreign reporting is coming from Iraq. So you might think she could get a shout-out from Little Media. She didn't. Petty jealousies? Anger at an an attractive and younger woman? Who knows. But she won it and she earned it and like many other women reporting from Iraq during the illegal war -- including Nancy A. Youssef, Cara Buckley, Sabrina Tavernise, Riverbend, Alissa J. Rubin, Ellen Knickmeyer, Tina Susman and Alexandra Zavis. Fadel's contributions have made a real difference. Maybe that's why Little Media could do everything -- while pretending to give a damn about Iraq -- but note the journalist who won a Polk this year for actually reporting from Iraq?